


between the devil and the deep blue sea

by kawx



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: College AU, M/M, Professor/Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2019-10-25 22:17:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17733668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kawx/pseuds/kawx
Summary: Roman finds himself in a bit of a tight spot when his relationship with his English Professor is complicated by the new campus security guard.





	1. 1. Dean

**Author's Note:**

> another new story? I know. but other than dear daughter which doesn’t actually have long to go, there’s only seeking arrangement and I couldn’t get this idea out of my head.
> 
> dedication to dani (@R0MANREIGN on twitter) who is the sweetest ever and the queen of bottom roman stans. also to kirsty, my soulmate, for being the one person who stands by me in all my hard times. 
> 
> hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think! tumblr @baloreignz twitter @psychrollins

Dean Ambrose has been working the door to a bar on Georgia Tech campus for about two months now, and he’s enjoying it as much as he enjoyed attending the college years ago. 

  
  


The kids who attend are just as annoying as the ones he was in class with, and mostly, the professors are all the same, and they look at him in awe when they pass him on the way to their cars. So it isn’t what Dean wanted to do with his life, working in security, but it’s where he’s ended up. Thanks to a torn tricep and one too many shoulder dislocations he’d had to give up his olympic wrestling dream, and he’d just taken any job he could once it all fucked up. 

  
  


He didn’t mind his job, though. It was easy enough, checking ID’s in the main rush and then sending any troublemakers on their way. Once it passed 2am things got quiet, and he got to stand scrolling through his phone until 4am when it was kick out time and he had to wrangle drunken teens towards their dorms and away from the bar. Once they got passed the first street they weren’t his problem anymore. 

  
  


Dean only took the job at Georgia Tech because it paid significantly more than his job as Walmart security, and he knew the place well, so that was always a bonus. 

  
  


It’s 9pm, and the bar is already a little busy with the evening crowd inside, and he flashes a grin to Colt who’s already outside the door with his jacket on. 

  
  


“Karl and Luke already clocked off?” 

  
  


“Yeah, they’re either having a drink or chatting up some poor girls because I haven’t seen them for a good twenty minutes.” 

  
  


“Of course they are,” Dean rolls his eyes fondly, “I’ll get suited up and then I’ll be out.” 

  
  


Colt was the first person he met the day he started. There’d been a couple of new intakes on the security team and Colt had been the one to show them the ropes, and he was partnered up with him on his first shift and since then they manned the door together every Friday night. 

  
  


Dean heads into the back of the bar and into the staff room, pulling on a hoodie and then clipping his protective vest on before slipping the security jacket over the top. The vests were a new addition last month, Dean didn’t see the need for them but it was something Georgia Tech had put in place after a security guard at another college got stabbed with a fork. It’s pointless, but it kind of makes Dean feel cool. 

  
  


When he heads back out to the door, Colt is waving Luke and Karl off and there’s a crackle over there radio to watch out for people dressed in fancy dress, because it's a hot ticket to smuggling alcohol into the bar. 

  
  


“What you been up to this week then, Ambrose?” 

  
  


“The usual. Working, working out, eating and sleeping.” 

  
  


“Damn, you need a hobby.” 

  
  


“I can’t believe that you did anything more exciting, Cabana.” 

  
  


“I went on a date, actually.” 

  
  


“Oh yeah, and how did that go for ya’?” 

  
  


“Shit, actually.” 

  
  


“There you go then. Men like us, who willingly stand outside a bar and corral drunken kids in and out of it on a Friday night, we don’t lead exciting lives dude.” 

  
  


Colt laughs in defeat because it’s true. Since being forced out of wrestling, Dean hasn’t had the ambition to try anything new. All he’s done since he graduated was work, go to the gym and then go to bed. He goes out every so often, but it’s only when he really needs to get laid, and even now that’s a struggle seeing as his weekends are spent working this new job. 

  
  


The night time crowd begin to arrive at about eleven, and Dean stands and checks what feels like a million ID’s with his flashlight, and checks anyone who’s in a costume for hidden alcohol before letting them into the bar. It’s tedious and monotonous work, but it’s easy enough, and for the most part he doesn’t get any trouble. 

  
  


After twelve the long line of people begins to get shorter until it’s only a couple of people coming in at a time. 

  
  


It’s nearly one when a group come up together, and Colt grins. 

  
  


“Seth, you don’t normally come out on a Friday night, what’s the occasion?” 

  
  


One of the kids, who Dean assumes is Seth, grins and throws his arm around the shorter guy standing next to him. 

  
  


“It’s Finn’s birthday! We managed to pull him away from his books and get him out.” He grins. There’s five of them, Seth and Finn, and then three others, one who might just be the most beautiful guy Dean has ever seen. He’s tall and stocky, a football player no doubt, and he’s got dark black hair pulled into a neat bun at the base of his neck, stubble gracing his chin and the softest looking lips. The guys reaching for his ID when his phone rings, and he steps away from the group. 

  
  


“I’ll catch you guys in there, I gotta take this.” 

  
  


“Roman I swear to god if that’s-“ 

  
  


“It will only take a minute I promise. Get me a drink.” Hm. Roman, a nice name to go with an even nicer face, but it’s quickly gone when he takes his phone call away from sight and around the corner. Dean checks the other guys ID’s and let’s them in, noticing how Seth’s fingers linger on Colt’s when he takes his card back. 

  
  


“So what’s the deal with those guys?” Dean asks when they’re safely inside. 

  
  


“What do you mean?” 

  
  


“Well for starters I don’t know any of these guys names, even the regulars I recognise by face, and that Seth kid was totally letting his hands linger longer than they should.” 

  
  


Colt rolls his eyes. “I’ve done a lot of walk rounds in the middle of the day, Seth eats lunch in the same place every day, I’ve come to know him.” 

  
  


“And he likes you.” 

  
  


“No he doesn’t. He’s just, flirty, in nature I guess.” 

  
  


“You are oblivious, dude.” 

  
  


They don’t get any more kids for a while, and the guy, Roman, who went to take a phone call doesn’t come back quickly like he promised he would, so after awhile Dean forgets about him and pulls his phone out, watching the time tick around as he waits for 3am to hit when people start to leave. 

  
  


It’s 2:30am when Dean hears shouting from around the corner, and he shoves his phone back into his pocket, flashing his torch around to look for the noise. 

  
  


“Are you fucking kidding me right now? You said- no! No I am not overreacting! Stop- oh fuck you!” Before Dean can find out what it is, the voice trails away and Dean goes back to his post and he and Colt talk about football and shit before the kids start to trickle out, and they wish them a good night and steer them towards their dorms.

  
  


Nearly an hour later, Dean hears the same voice shouting again, and this time he sees the culprit. It’s Roman, the guy who bailed earlier, only this time he’s staggering as he walks past them, before collapsing onto a bench not too far from the entrance to the bar. 

  
  


“S-stop calling me!” He slurs into the phone, “No I’m not, fuck you.” 

  
  


“Did he even get into the bar?” Dean asks and Colt shakes his head. 

  
  


“Not that I recall, but he’s fucked, somehow.” 

  
  


“Alright, can you hold this down while I handle it?” 

  
  


“Yeah dude I’ll be good, just don’t take too long I wanna’ get out of here.” 

  
  


Dean jumps little fence that’s placed to make an orderly queue and heads over to Roman who’s slouched into the bench, scrolling through his phone even though his eyes can’t even focus. 

  
  


“So, didn’t make it in for the celebrations?” 

  
  


Roman looks up at him, all confused and lost for a split second before he’s recognising him and shaking his head. 

  
  


“Nope. Seth and Finn are gonna’ be soooooo mad at me.” Now he’s drunk Roman’s voice is higher, and his mannerisms are silly and childlike as he puts his head in his hands and looks up at Dean. It’s, god it’s cute. 

  
  


“They’ll be alright. You got girlfriend troubles? Heard you shouting from like a mile back.” 

  
  


Roman scoffs, “Boyfriend. Yeah sure. Let’s call it that!” He rolls his eyes dramatically and then he stands unexpectedly, stumbling on his own feet and Dean rushes to catch him, putting an arm around his waist to steady him. 

  
  


“Alright big guy, where’s your dorm, let’s get you home.” As Dean follows Roman’s garbled instructions he wonders what the hell he's doing. He’s never bothered to walk a drunk kid home before, once they’re past the first row of dorms then they’re not his problem anymore. Maybe it’s because he feels bad for Roman, he’d come out for his friends birthday and ended up fighting with his boyfriend for the whole night and never making it inside, but somehow getting drunk at the same time. Or maybe it’s because he’s really fucking hot. Maybe it’s both but he’s not sure which it’s more of, if he’s honest. 

  
  


They make it back to the dorm with relative ease, Roman seems to sober up a little and he manages to get him back to his room. 

  
  


“If only he could see me now. Bringing back a hot guy in uniform to my room. He’d freak the fuck out.” Roman grins as he fumbles with the key a few times before he finally manages to unlock it and staggers inside. 

  
  


“Yeah well, I really hope he doesn’t come around here in the next five minutes because I really don’t want to fight your boyfriend.” Dean says as he steps into the room. It’s a typical room, two single beds with the room clearly split in half for two different people. Roman stumbles over to the side which has football memorabilia everywhere, trophies and jerseys and gym bags. The other side has posters of bands Dean’s never heard of and books piled high on shelves. 

  
  


Roman scoffs as he collapses onto the bed, kicking his shoes off. “As if. He’s at home with his wife.” 

  
  


The words take a while to register in Dean’s brain, takes him a moment to realise that yes, Roman did just say his boyfriend was at home with his  _ wife.  _

  
  


“Wife?” 

  
  


Roman nods as he starts stripping down to his boxers, hands uncoordinated as he gets stuck in his shirt. 

  
  


“Yep. Wife. He looooooooves her soooooooo much.” Roman’s voice is mocking and spiteful as he finally gets his shirt off, and Dean has to look away because fuck, there’s miles of tanned skin on display and he kind of really wants his hands all over it. 

  
  


“Okay… I-“ 

  
  


“That’s what I get for fucking my professor.” Roman adds casually, snuggling into the covers. Dean’s thankful, really, because it means that he’s no longer distracted and he can focus on the words he just heard. 

  
  


“Oh boy, this is not how I expected the night to go.” Dean says shaking his head. He gets a text from Colt telling him to hurry up and by the time he’s responded, Roman has passed out and is snoring softly into his pillow. He turns to leave, but then he stops and turns back. There’s a few receipts on Roman’s nightstand and he grabs a pen and scribbles a note on it for Roman to find in the morning in case he doesn’t remember much. He signs it with a simple “Security Guard” before heading out back into the night. 

  
  


When he gets to Colt there’s only a couple minutes left of their shift and they head into the staff room to clock off. 

  
  


“That guy get back okay?” 

  
  


“Yeah he was good, just upset, some fight with his boyfriend or something.” He says, he doesn’t want to go telling this kids secret, that he’s fucking one of his professors and he’s extremely jealous of the wife. 

  
  


“I told Seth when he came out that you took him home and he asked me to say thanks.” 

  
  


“Part of the job, right?” 

  
  


“Indeed it is my friend, indeed it is.” 


	2. 2. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoy the second instalment of this roller coaster ride you’re about to embark on! 
> 
> note: each chapter will either be in roman or dean’s p.o.v, alternating each chapter between the two. 
> 
> tumblr: baloreignz twitter: psychrollins

Roman wakes up with a pounding headache and an extremely dry mouth. Seth’s alarm is screaming from the other side of the room and it rattles around his head like a fucking hammer. 

  
  


“Seth! Can you fucking turn that off?” 

  
  


The alarm stops and Roman sighs in relief. 

  
  


“Sorry, forgot I had it set.” He apologises, and Roman rubs at his eyes to get rid of the sleep. He doesn’t remember much from last night, other than having a few drinks with Seth, Finn, Jason and Chad before heading to the bar. Then he’d got a call from Hunter and - well fuck. That was it, wasn’t it? He’d argued with Hunter outside of the bar before running into the football guys who he’d done some shots with at their dorm. From there, it’s pretty much black. 

  
  


Arguing with Hunter and then getting drunk is not unusual to Roman. 

  
  


“What happened to you last night? You said you’d follow us in?” Seth asks coming over to Roman’s bed and laying down beside him even though the size of the bed doesn’t really allow it. 

  
  


“What do you think happened?” 

  
  


“You argued with him, didn’t you?” 

  
  


Roman nods sighing and sitting up a little. “He called while he was at home, kept saying things like  _ I miss you  _ and  _ I wish I was with you  _ and I just, he always says those things when we’re apart and it pisses me off because no matter what he says I know he’ll never change. I’ll always be a secret.” Roman shakes his head. “Anyway, I hung up on him and then I ended up running into Cal and went back to there’s for a bit to do shots. Don’t remember much after that. How did you find me?” 

  
  


Seth raises an eyebrow. “I didn’t…” 

  
  


“How did I get home? Did I get here by myself?” 

  
  


“Nope. Colt told me that the other doorman, Dan? Dean? I don’t know I can’t remember, but he said that he heard you shouting down the phone and then took you home.” 

  
  


Roman’s face falls as he remembers shouting down the phone at Hunter, swearing at him while wasted. He doesn’t remember the conversation though. 

  
  


“Fuck, remind me never to drink again.” He says, reaching over to his nightstand for water. He sees it then, the receipt and the pen sitting next to each other and he picks it up, his too tired brain having trouble focusing on the words. 

  
  


_ For morning Roman, you got back in one piece but you should probably  _ not  _ tell strangers that you’re fucking your professor. kinda sensitive information.  _

 

_ have fun with the hangover  _

 

_ security guard  _

  
  


“Oh fuck.” 

  
  


“What?” 

  
  


“I told the security guard. I told him about Hunter.”

  
  


Seth’s eyes go wide and he rips the piece of paper from Roman’s hand, his own eyes scanning the words over and over again. 

  
  


“Ro…” 

  
  


“This is bad, Seth, real bad.” 

  
  


“Yeah, no shit.” 

  
  


Low and behold, Roman hadn’t ever meant to sleep with his professor. The thought had never crossed his mind, not until half way through the second semester and Professor Regal had been replaced by Professor Helmsley. Hunter Helmsley was a good looking man, he had a thick, muscular body and a well trimmed beard, he oozed power and control and Roman was drawn to him like a damn moth to a light. 

  
  


But still, he could appreciate a good looking man without jumping into bed with him. But Helmsley always had a soft spot for him, if Roman was struggling he would offer support at all hours of the day, emailing him back only moments after Roman had emailed him. 

  
  


And then one day he had gone into his office having a meltdown about an assignment and the next thing he knew he was grinding in his lap and kissing the air out of his lungs. 

  
  


That started it, just secret, casual sex in his office or in the classroom after hours. But then it got deeper, and they texted and called and it became so much more than sex. 

  
  


Roman only ever told Seth, and only because Seth saw a text on his phone that was wildly inappropriate for a professor to be sending to his student. 

  
  


And that’s where they are now, still hooking up and sometimes meeting far, far away from campus for a date, but there’s tension there. Hunter is still married and has made no move or mention that he’s going to end things with his wife for Roman, even though he promises Roman he loves him. 

  
  


“Do you think he’s going to tell anyone? The security guard?” 

  
  


“I hope not. But I need to find him and make sure he doesn’t.” Roman slides out of bed and pulls on some clothes, fishing his phone out of his jeans which are in a pool on the floor. He’s got a handful of texts from Hunter, all of them asking him to call him when he’s sober. He ignores them for now, he’s running on god knows how much sleep and he’s had no food since yesterday afternoon, he hasn’t got the mental capacity to deal with him right now. 

  
  


“You going right now?”

  
  


“Well I’m gonna’ go down to reception and see if I can get a number or something, or at least maybe some information on his next shift time. I can’t have him tell anyone, Seth. Hunter will kill me if this gets out.” 

  
  


Seth sighs and gets up too, heading back to his own bed. “I thought you wanted to something that would push Hunter into making a decision?” 

  
  


“Yeah I do, but not one that could get him fired and me suspended or some shit.” He slips on his shoes and quickly redoes his hair before grabbing his keys from the bedside table. 

  
  


“Tell Finn I’ll meet him for lunch or something later and that I’m really sorry for skipping out on his birthday.” 

  
  


“Okay, well good luck finding your mystery man.” 

  
  


Roman heads out into the dorm hallway and belatedly wishes he’d put on a cap or something, the lights are already too bright and he hasn’t even stepped out into the sun yet. 

  
  


On the way over to reception he forms a story to tell the receptionist, he got drunk and the security guard took him home and he has something of his to return. It’s not too much of a lie, really. 

  
  


“I’m afraid I can’t give out any personal information including shift times, it’s policy.” 

  
  


Roman sighs, he can’t wait until the weekend to see if he’ll be working again, by then the secret could be out and it would ruin a lot of people’s lives. 

  
  


“Okay, yeah, thanks anyway,” Roman says heading out of the reception. It was a long shot really, but he’s got options left. 

  
  


He heads to the bar and goes inside. Maybe one of the bartenders know him and he can find out at least something. 

  
  


Roman asks four of the staff in the bar before one girl overheard them and says, 

  
  


“Are you talking about Dean?” 

  
  


“Um, maybe? I’m not sure. I was drunk so I don’t remember but he was working the door last night and my roommate said it was either Dan or Dean…” 

  
  


“Well no security guard here that I know is called Dan, so, it must be Dean. He’s worked here a couple of months but outside of Colt, Luke and Karl, he keeps himself to himself.” She says with a shrug. 

  
  


“So you wouldn’t know how to get in contact with him?” 

  
  


“No, sorry. I mean, his last name is Ambrose so you could try Facebook?” 

  
  


Dean Ambrose. Well, at least he has a name now. A name is all he has for someone who he told his deepest secret too, great. 

  
  


“Thanks, you’ve really helped.” 

  
  


Roman heads back out into the day and quickly pulls out his phone. A Facebook search gives him nothing, really, there’s no local Dean Ambrose’s listed and none of the pictures stand out to him. He tries google instead. 

  
  


Dean Ambrose, former student at Georgia Tech, ripped of his Olympic wrestling dream after a torn tricep and a fucked up shoulder. There’s no picture on the Georgia Tech website, no contact information or anything, but it adds more to the name, at least. 

  
  


He shoots off a text to Finn asking about lunch before he’s heading back to the dorm for a shower. He hasn’t got far in his mission to find Dean Ambrose who is pretty much holding his life in his hands, but without a way to contact him there’s nothing he can do. His nerves are on edge all day, waiting for someone to click, to tell him they know he’s fucking his English professor. But they don’t, and he’s at least relaxed a little when he finally gets into bed and calls Hunter back. 

  
  


“So, stopped giving me the silent treatment?” Hunter’s voice is soft down the phone and Roman sighs, hating how it makes him feel but loving it at the same time. 

  
  


“You said to call you when I was sober and I am.” 

  
  


“You’ve been drunk the whole day?” 

  
  


“Well I felt it after last night.” 

  
  


Hunter sighs and Roman can hear shuffling around on the other end of the phone, like he’s in his office at home, playing with the papers on his desk. 

  
  


“Ro, baby, what happened?”

  
  


“You know what happened. We argued and I got drunk.” 

  
  


“Are you ever going to stop using alcohol as a way to deal with stuff?” 

  
  


“Are you ever going to stop saying shit like that to me while you’re with your wife?” 

  
  


“I’m sorry baby… I just. I can’t help but tell you I miss you when I do.” 

  
  


Roman sighs, feeling all the anger he had felt last night run away at the sound of Hunter calling him baby. “I’m sorry I got so mad.” 

  
  


“It’s okay baby, I should have said those things when I knew it would upset you.” Hunter says softly, and just like that, everything is over with. 

  
  


“So,” Hunter says and Roman can hear him tapping his pen on his desk. 

  
  


“Did you at least have a good night for Finn’s birthday?” 

  
  


Roman laughs softly, “I don’t know, I didn’t end up celebrating because of everything that happened. I hung out with the guys from football for a bit and then I came home.” He doesn’t tell Hunter the whole truth, he can’t. He knows he’ll get jealous if he tells him some random guy walked him home because he was upset and pretty much black out. 

  
  


“Mm, would have been nice if you were coming home to me like that… bet you’re real cute when you’re drunk.” He purrs. 

  
  


Roman’s belly curls hot, thinking about coming home to Hunter, body running on alcohol as he slides into his lap, letting those big hands undress him and take care of him the way he knows they can. 

  
  


“Don’t… don’t start something when Seth could get back any minute.” He whimpers, resisting his hand that wants to slide under his boxers and get off to everything that he’s making him imagine. 

  
  


Hunter groans softly before sighing, “Okay, okay I’ll stop. I’m gonna’ be in early on Monday morning so, if you’re up come and see me okay? Wanna’ make up for this weekend.” Roman’s body shivers at the underlying promise that’s there, and his mind is filled with images of Hunter taking him apart and putting him back together again. 

  
  


“Yeah.. fuck yeah I’ll be there.” 

  
  


“Okay baby, I’ll check in on you tomorrow. Sleep well, I love you.” 

  
  


“I love you too.” 

  
  


Roman shuts off his phone and puts it on charge, his mind a little clearer now he’s spoken to Hunter but it’s still filled with nerves and worry about what might happen if Dean the security guard tells people about him. 

  
  


Seth gets back from the gym a little after ten, says it’s better to go later on at night because there’s less people there. 

  
  


“So, how did man hunting go?” 

  
  


“Well, I still haven’t managed to find him but I know that his name is Dean Ambrose and he used to go here.” 

  
  


“And he decided to come back and be a security guard? Wow… I really hope that’s not in my future.” 

  
  


“He was going to wrestle at the olympics but then he got injured, apparently.” 

  
  


“That sucks.” Seth says as he gets his shower stuff and heads into the bathroom. 

  
  


Yeah, it really does. But Roman’s hoping that the guy hasn’t said anything yet, and that he’ll be able to get to him in time before he does. Because yeah, Seth’s right when he said that he wanted something that would force Hunter to make a choice, whether he wanted to stay with his wife or whether he really wanted Roman, but Roman doesn’t want to bring a scandal to them in order to do it. 

  
  


Roman lays down and closes his eyes, letting the exhaustion from last nights antics and today’s mission to pull him into a much needed sleep. 


	3. 3. Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really sorry this has taken a while to get up! I’ve been dealing with personal things, academic and mental health and all that. so I’m sorry if this chapter is a little bit choppy or stilted, it’s been written over a period of time. but I hope you enjoy and please let me know what you think! 
> 
> tumblr: @baloreignz twitter: psychrollins

After a weekend spent catching up on sleep and watching reruns of Friends, Dean heads into work on Monday morning for his first day shift. Since starting at Georgia Tech Dean’s only worked the night shift, but thanks to low staff he’s on the day shift, a whole nine hour shift of walking around campus and the dorms and making sure nothing crazy is going on. 

  
  


Colt has told him that day shifts are pretty laid back, barely anything happens and if it does it’s just calming down domestic disputes that happen in the dorms, but it’s rare. 

  
  


He still has to wear his vest and his big security jacket, so he feels out of place when he starts walking around a campus full of kids wearing their team colours and plain clothes, especially seeing as he doesn’t have Colt with him and not making him the odd one out. But it’s okay, because for a December day it’s a good temperature, and he’s enjoying walking around getting a look at the campus he used to know so well. 

  
  


Dean had enjoyed his time at Georgia Tech. He’s been pretty popular and had a good circle of friends. It was a welcome distraction from the shitstorm that was his home life back in Ohio, and he’d kind of fell in love with Atlanta and he’d not gone home after graduation, there was nothing there for him, really. So he’d found himself a little apartment and good honest work after his dreams fell through, and really, he’s quite happy with his life. 

  
  


Around lunchtime Dean heads to the bar to take his break and grab some food. He’s sat minding his own business, enjoying a particularly good sandwich and a soda when someone sits next to him at the bar and fires a million questions at him. 

  
  


“You’re the guy who took Roman home right? You didn’t tell anyone about what he told you, right? Please tell me you didn’t?” 

  
  


Dean swallows the bite of his sandwich and looks at the kid next to him. 

  
  


“Excuse me?” 

  
  


“Sorry, I’m Seth, you work with Colt on the doors on Friday? He told me you took my friend home because he was drunk.” 

  
  


Oh, yeah, Dean remembers that. The extremely beautiful guy who was fighting with his boyfriend, who is also his professor, outside the bar. 

  
  


“Oh, Roman or something?” 

  
  


“Yeah, he wants to know whether you told anyone about what he told you… about his boyfriend? He’s stressed.” 

  
  


Dean laughs softly wiping his hands on his napkin. 

  
  


“No I’ve not told anyone, why would I?” And more importantly, who does Dean have to tell? Other than some higher ups at the college but Dean’s not about causing drama unless he knows someone’s in danger. He doesn’t know anything about these guys. 

  
  


Seth’s face practically relaxes and he quickly pulls out his phone. “Thank God, Roman’s been going crazy all weekend.” 

  
  


“Tell him not to worry, I ain’t telling no one.” 

  
  


“Thanks, dude. Sorry for barging in on your lunch.” 

  
  


“Don’t worry about it, glad I could help.” 

  
  


Seth goes to head out but Dean quickly slides out of his chair and catches up with him. “Hey wait… I gotta’ ask you something. What’s the deal with you and Colt?” 

  
  


Seth’s head whips around to look at Dean, a shocked expression evident on his face. “What? What are you talking about there’s no deal there?” 

  
  


Dean grins because Seth’s flustered reaction tells him all he needs to know, really. 

  
  


“Kid, your hands lingered way longer than they should and I doubt Colt knows many other students by their name.” 

  
  


Seth blushes softly and looks away from Dean. “There isn’t anything there, honestly. I just, see him most days.” 

  
  


“Mm, sure, okay kid. Well I guess I’ll see you around. Tell Roman not to worry, his secret is safe with me.” 

  
  


“Thanks!” 

  
  


Dean heads back out onto campus but takes a turn down a path that rarely gets used, pulling out his cigarettes and lighting one up. He didn’t expect to have involuntarily involved himself in college drama, but somehow he has, and now he’s the keeper of a campus secret. 

  
  


Once he’s finished his cigarette Dean goes back out into his shift. Other than the interaction at lunch with Seth, he doesn’t have to deal with any issues and he’s pretty tired when it’s time to clock off. The bar is getting busier again, it always does apparently, the students come out of classes and then pile in for food and drinks. When Dean was a student he and Daniel used to just go back to the dorm and play video games while drinking a six pack of beer they’d got for cheap from Daniel’s girlfriend. Socialising is popular these days, Dean assumes. 

  
  


He’s back into his normal clothes, thankful to be rid of the vest which is actually a little restricting when you’re walking around all day. 

  
  


“Hey Dean!” Dean turns around at the sound of his name being called and sees Seth and Roman a few paces behind him. Roman is even more good looking in the sun, even if he is only dressed in sweats a football jersey. 

  
  


“Twice in one day Seth, you stalking me or something?” 

  
  


Seth rolls his eyes as they catch up to him. “No, get over yourself.” 

  
  


“I just wanted to say thank you,” Roman butts in scratching the back of his neck. “Thank you for walking me home and for uh, not saying anything about what I told you. I apparently have a really big mouth when I’m drunk.” 

  
  


Dean shrugs, but his eyes fall to Roman’s lips and his mind tries to take a turn that it really shouldn’t. 

  
  


“Don’t worry about it, and like I said to Seth, I’m not going to say anything. But uh, I hope everything gets resolved with whatever’s going on.” 

  
  


Roman looks embarrassed and he looks away, but Seth just rolls his eyes again - and Dean’s only spoken to this kid twice and he already knows that he’s the most dramatic person he knows. 

  
  


“Can you tell him what he’s doing is stupid?” 

  
  


“Seth!” 

  
  


“What? Finally, we have a an impartial outside perspective to tell you you’re being stupid!” 

  
  


“Look, this is not my place to get involved, I was just doing my job in helping you get home. Just be careful man.” 

  
  


Seth sighs, hooking his arm with Roman. “C’mon big guy we have to go and meet Finn. Thanks for not saying anything Dean, but just so you know, Roman gets drunk when he fights with his  _ boyfriend  _ so you might be seeing a lot of him on Friday nights.” Seth says before tugging him along. Roman offers him a smile as they go, and Dean is left to walk to his car in a bit of a daze, the whirlwind conversation still running around his brain. 

  
  


Dean is twenty four years old and yet here he is, working on a college campus that is rife with teenage angst and drama. And somehow after only two months working he knows the juiciest gossip there is. He gets into his car and starts it up, pulling out of the parking lot. 

  
  


The drive home consists of Dean thinking about Roman, even though he shouldn’t. It could be because Dean hasn’t been laid in a while, and Roman is extremely attractive and gay, for that matter. Or it could be because he can’t stop thinking about the fact that this very attractive young man is sleeping with his professor. Who is probably older than him, maybe not ancient because professors are getting younger and younger it seems, but older, and probably nowhere near good looking enough to be with Roman. Well, that’s just Dean’s take on things. 

  
  


But either way, Dean can’t stop thinking about him all the way to his apartment. He doesn’t know this kid, save for his big secret, but there’s something in him that draws Dean to him. He’ll get it out of his head soon enough, though, he just needs to go to a bar and pick someone up to get laid and then that’s it, it will be gone. 

  
  


Or maybe he’ll hit up a couple of friends and go watch a football game or something. Anything to make him forget about Roman and his stupid professor. 

  
  


Dean feeds his cat - Mustard, who he’d found as a stray kitten last year and he’d taken to the vet then subsequently adopted - and switches on the tv, sitting in front of it with a beer and leftovers from last night's dinner. 

  
  


Mustard curls up on his lap, and he runs his hand through her soft finger fur as he flicks through the endless channels on his tv, settling in the end on the football highlights from last weeks game. Dean sits there for the duration of it, petting mustard with one hand and eating dinner with the other. It’s his usual weekday evening if he doesn’t have work, and honestly, if he could take mustard to work with him, he’d rather be there. Dean hates not being busy, he hates sitting with his own mind just running away from him. If he’s on a night shift at least he can come home at sunrise, sleep the day away, eat some food and clean the apartment before heading out to work again. Day shifts mean he can’t just sleep to get away from his own thoughts. 

  
  


Dean watches the light outside die as he watches tv, Mustard happily purring away on his lap, thankful that Dean’s there for her nightly doze. In the end, crappy nighttime television filters into the channels and Dean gently moves Mustard onto the coach and takes his plate out into the kitchen to wash up. He leaves the tv on in the background just for the noise, he can’t deal with silence. Dean hates silence. He hates it, and he always has to hear something to be able to function properly. Even if it’s just the sound of cars passing or people talking or the rain. 

  
  


He heads into the shower at around eleven, and he leaves the door slightly ajar because he knows Mustard is going to scratch at the door if he doesn’t, because she’ll want to follow him in when she realises he’s not coming back to the couch. 

  
  


Dean’s got a text when he gets out - and sure enough Mustard is curled up on the bath mat - and he wraps a towel around his waist before he opens it. 

  
  


**Colt:** _ dude why did you ask Seth whether there was something going on between us?  _

  
  


Dean laughs a little and shakes his head. 

  
  


**Dean:** _ because you didn’t give me a straight answer. I mean, neither did he but still _

  
  


**Colt:** _ because the answer is nothing dude  _

  
  


**Dean:** _ yeah yeah sure I believe you  _

  
  


Dean goes into his bedroom and goes through his drawers to find a fresh pair of shorts. His phone chimes with a couple of messages and he turns his bedroom tv on, flipping to the kids channel for late night cartoons to send him to sleep. 

  
  


**Colt:** _ you’re an asshole deano  _

  
  


**Colt:** _ are you working Friday night?  _

  
  


Dean rolls his eyes as he settles into bed, Mustard coming to join him and giving him an annoyed little chirp at the fact that he keeps moving around and disturbing her sleep. He scratches behind her ears and she chirps a little softer, meaning that she forgives him, and she settles down over his knees. 

  
  


**Dean:** _ yeah I know. yeah I am, you?  _

  
  


**Colt:** _ thank god, the new new guy sucks  _

  
  


Dean shakes his head, everyone sucks to Colt if they don’t get his weird sense of humour. But Dean will take it, because that means he doesn’t suck, and well, it’s nice to have met a friend that isn’t someone he knew in college. He puts his phone on charge and turns the tv down to a distant hum, and lets his hand fall onto the top of Mustard’s head, feeling her soft fur under his fingertips. 

  
  


He tries to put thoughts out of his mind, but despite everything, the stupidly handsome college student who has questionable choices in men won’t leave his brain, and he falls asleep with the image of him drunk and soft in his bed burnt permanently on his eyes. 


	4. 4. Roman

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it’s taken me a while to update! I had my dissertation to do and lots of exams, but it’s ALLLL over now so yay to me for finishing university! In honour, let’s continue Romans journey in college while sleeping with his professor! Let me know what you think! 
> 
> twitter @psychrollins tumblr @baloreignz

Seth finding Dean and the man promising him that he hadn’t told anyone about Hunter just made Roman’s Monday a better day. The plan for meeting up early in the morning fell through because Hunter got stuck in traffic on the way to work and by the time he made it into the office, Roman had to be in his class. Then Hunter has been busy with teaching his own classes, Roman only getting to see him in the class he was in and not getting a moment of his time the whole day. So of course he’d just fallen into Hunter’s lap on Tuesday morning, kissing him hard and grinding down into his lap.

  
  


Hunter had been just as desperate, running his hands all over Roman’s body, sliding them inside his gym shorts to cup his ass and fondle him. Roman’s always known to wear clothes that are easy to take off when he visits his professor, because they’re always desperate and Roman always needs it hard and fast, and he does not need jean zips and buttons getting in the way of him having Hunter’s dick inside of him. 

  
  


Hunter fucks him twice before it hits 9 am, taking him hard and fast bent over the desk, then letting Roman ride him slow and soft sat in his desk chair. Hunter kisses him hard before he leaves, and makes Roman promise to come and see him before he has to head home, so that he can make sure Roman thinks about him all night. 

  
  


Roman heads to the library once he finally makes it out of Hunter’s office, telling the older man that if he didn’t go to teach his class they’d get suspicious. He leaves him with a loving kiss to the forehead that makes Roman’s knees weak. 

  
  


He joins Finn, Jason and Chad in the library, all of them huddled into their books, Finn sitting in complete silence as he mulls over his history books. Jason and Chad are sharing earphones, giggling over something on one of their phones. He’s pretty sure they’re fucking, or in love with each other, but whenever anyone asks they just say they’re closer than most, whatever that means. 

  
  


“Hey, Seth said you disappeared early this morning, where’d you go?” Finn asks as he looks up. 

  
  


Roman hopes that the collar of his shirt is hiding the marks that Hunter sucked into his collarbone. “Oh I had to go and see Coach about training, he’s got an afternoon full of meetings and shit so I said I’d go over early.” The lies about his whereabouts have become as easy as breathing, even though he really hates it. He wants to be able to tell his best friends that he’s got a boyfriend, but he knows he can’t. It’s not that he doesn’t trust them, but he promised Hunter no one would ever know, because the less people the less risk there is of someone who really shouldn’t know finding out. 

  
  


“Oh right, cool. Hey, I wanted to ask you something…” 

  
  


“What about?” 

  
  


“When you disappeared on Friday night, does that happen often?” 

  
  


Roman blushes, still hasn’t gotten over how drunk he got just because he was fighting with Hunter, how he missed his best friends birthday, had to be taken home by a hot security guard and then blabbed his secret to him. 

  
  


“No? Sometimes. I tend to wonder when I get drunk…” 

  
  


“How about this Friday, you  _ don’t  _ wonder when you get drunk and we do a rerun of my birthday?” 

  
  


Roman raises an eyebrow. Finn has never really liked going out, ever since they met in their first year here, Finn was the one that came for an hour to say he’d joined in and then left to go and watch documentaries on demons and witches while wrapped up in a blanket and a cup of tea. He’s surprised that Finn wants to do it again when it had taken Seth so long to convince him to go out for his birthday in the first place. 

  
  


“I mean, I’m always down to go out… are you feeling okay? You  _ hate  _ going out.” 

  
  


Finn blushes before he pulls a piece of paper from his hoodie pocket. He hands it to Roman and he lets his eyes scan over it. It’s a flyer, advertising that Friday night is a themed night, the theme being supernatural. For as long as Roman’s known Finn he’s known that the guy is  _ obsessed  _ with everything supernatural, especially demons and witches and ghosts. “I want to go, you know, dress up have fun…” 

  
  


Roman smiles and he hands the flyer back to Finn. “Yeah, sounds cool. You can help me with my costume.” 

  
  


Finn’s eyes practically light up at that, and he launches into what he could turn Roman into on Friday, and Roman listens happily to his friends enthusiasm. Seth joins them an hour or so later once his early morning class has ended, and he gives Roman the  _ I know you left early to get fucked this morning  _ look before he too is getting Finn’s excitement about the supernatural night on Friday. 

  
  


The rest of the day is filled with idle chat about their classes, and Roman leaves around twelve to go to his class, going to practice straight after. He ends up in Hunter’s office again around 5pm, dressed now in grey sweats and his football jersey. Hunter kisses him deeply, telling him that he couldn’t stop thinking about him all day. 

  
  


“You mean you couldn’t stop thinking about my ass?” Roman gets out between kisses. Hunter’s palming his dick through his sweats, and he’s already hard and leaking just from the simple action. He’s a fucking mess. 

  
  


“You and your ass, baby.” 

  
  


Roman moans as Hunter slips his hand down his sweats and into his underwear, wrapping a warm, calloused hand around him. His head thumps back against the wall as Hunter kisses down his neck while he works his hand over his cock, pulling quiet little moans out of him. He strokes him to a third orgasm of the day slowly, whispering sweet words into his ear that makes Roman cling onto Hunter, whimpering as he spills over Hunter’s fist. 

  
  


His vision is fuzzy from the orgasm and his legs twitch but he sinks down to his knees a moment later, shaking fingers working on Hunter’s belt and zipper. His cock is hard and flushed when Roman takes it into his hand, licking the head slowly, knowing much Hunter hates to be teased but loves dishing it out. 

  
  


“Roman, you know better than to tease me…” 

  
  


Roman gives a little smile, “Yes sir,” he almost  _ purrs  _ up at him before he’s swallowing him down. Hunter growls, head thrown back as Roman takes him down. Roman loves sucking dick, at least he loves sucking  _ Hunter’s  _ dick. He loves the warmth and the weight of it on his tongue, the taste and how he fills his mouth, the pressure on his throat forcing him to think about how to breath. 

  
  


“Just like that baby. Such a pretty mouth, much better when you use it like this rather than running it while you’re drunk, huh sweetheart?” 

  
  


Roman blushes at the words, knows he’s due a punishment for the shit he said and did the other night. He relaxes his throat and stills, letting Hunter take over. A hand goes to his hair, grip firm but not painful, and he starts fucking his mouth. Roman gags and chokes around it, forcing himself to breath through his nose. His eyes are watering and there’s spit running down his chin, but Hunter’s telling him he’s beautiful and such a good boy and Roman’s addicted to it, and when Hunter comes he swallows with a moan and letting out a soft  _ thank you sir  _ as he wipes his mouth. 

  
  


He’s pulled up and kissed, Hunter licking into his mouth and depriving him of more air, it makes Roman dizzy but he loves it, clutching at the mans thick shoulders as he’s settled into Hunter’s desk, his professor slotting effortlessly between his thighs. 

  
  


“So, I’m free this weekend, why don’t we take off for a few days, we can get a room somewhere and I can finally have you in a bed.” Hunter says to him in between kisses. 

  
  


“You know I would love that, but you seem to have forgotten than your assignment is due on Monday morning so I’m gonna need the weekend to finish it, and I promised Finn I’d do a redo on his birthday on Friday, it’s supernatural night and he’s so excited for it.” 

  
  


“Baby,” Hunter  _ whines  _ like Roman does when he’s pouting. “Steph is going to be at her moms all weekend, we might not get this opportunity again for a long time.” 

  
  


Roman ignores how all that could be changed if Hunter just left his wife, but he doesn’t need another argument. “You’re the one who set the assignment deadline, and I already promised Finn I would go, I ruined his birthday once I’m not doing it again.” 

  
  


“I’ll give you an extension.” 

  
  


“No,” Roman says softly, “Told you I wasn’t going to let what we have interfere with school or let you get involved like that. I’ll try and work on it this week but I’ve got loads of other stuff to do.” 

  
  


“How about if we just stayed here? I can stay on campus late on Friday night, then you can come here and I can at least have the night with you if I can’t have all weekend.” 

  
  


“You’re suggesting we sleep here, in your office?” 

  
  


“Why not? No one comes in here, I left a banana on my desk by accident last time I took a vacation and it was still there when I got back two weeks later, so either the janitor wanted to leave a rotting banana on my desk or they didn’t come in the whole time. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and believe that it was the last one.” 

  
  


Roman sighs as he plays with the collar of Hunter’s shirt, unsure of what to say. He really wants to spend a whole night with Hunter, not having to worry about his wife calling to see where he is, getting to just enjoy him for more than a few hours at a time. 

  
  


“Where are we going to sleep?” 

  
  


Hunter starts kissing his neck, his thick beard tickling the sensitive skin making Roman gasp and curl his hand around the back of his neck. 

  
  


“There’s a blow up mattress in the cupboard for emergencies, if I get stuck here or something.” Hunter says, “We can just set it down on the floor and I can bring some blankets. It’s not quite the four poster bed I was planning on but I’ll take what I can get.” 

  
  


“You’ve got it all figured out, huh?” 

  
  


“Just say yes,” Hunter whispers against his collarbone, teasing his teeth against the skin. “I don’t know when I’m going to be able to get an opportunity like this again, baby, and I need to take what I can.” 

  
  


“Okay, but I can’t promise I’m gonna be stone cold sober, I want to enjoy Finn’s birthday.” 

  
  


“Even better, I told you how I wanted you to come back to me one time all handsy and drunk. Just, not too drunk baby? I wanna enjoy our night too.” 

  
  


“Not too drunk, promise.” Roman says, and Hunter kisses him before he starts tugging at his sweats again, and as much as Roman wants to let him have his way with him again, he can see the clock above Hunter’s head and he’s only got ten minutes before he’s late to meet Seth for dinner. 

  
  


“Hunter I have to go,” He says voice soft and thick with desire, “I’m meeting Seth for dinner and you know how he bitches when I’m late because of you.” 

  
  


“Fuck Seth,” 

  
  


“You wish.” Roman snorts, but Hunter eventually pulls away from him, kissing him deeply before letting him slide off the desk. “Let me know your schedule and I can come and see you tomorrow before practice.” He knows he can never see Hunter on Wednesdays after practice because he always has dinner with his wife and her brother. 

  
  


“I will, I’ll call you later. I love you.” 

  
  


Roman kisses him again, “Love you too.” He says before making sure his clothes and hair are straight before leaving his office. He meets Seth at the bar so that they can have dinner, and he tells him quietly about his weekend plans. 

  
  


“So your first night together is going to be on the floor, on an air mattress, in his office.” Seth says, scowling almost. 

  
  


“You make it sound like it’s our first time having sex. It’s our first full night together, and yes, it’s going to be on the floor in his office but it is what it is, Seth, we have to take what we can get.” 

  
  


“I don’t get why he can’t just tell his wife he’s away on training or something when he knows you’re free. In my opinion, you don’t need to take what you can get, Ro.” 

  
  


Roman doesn’t respond, because talking to Seth about Hunter never ends well. Instead they talk about Finn’s birthday redo, and how excited he seems at being able to dress himself and his friends up. 

  
  


When they make it back to their dorm room, full and tired, Seth excuses himself to shower, and Roman spends the duration of it talking with Hunter on the phone before watching an episode of Game of Thrones before bed. 

  
  


Friday rolls around in a hurry, and before Roman knows it he’s in Finn’s dorm room with his friend in his lap, doing his eye make up ready for the night. Finn’s got face paint on, mixture of red and black and white across his face, teeth painted down his neck. He looks amazing, and he’s got an outfit laid out on the bed ready to put on just before they leave. Finn had decided on dressing Seth and Roman very similarly, both wearing all black, and Finn’s done some dark eye makeup while putting in bright blue contacts for both of them. He was going to go with black ones, like demons, but he’d decided to go with a nod to Seth and Roman’s favourite show, Game of Thrones instead. 

  
  


They drink a little in Finn’s dorm room while they wait for Jason and Chad, Finn having pulled a bottle of whiskey that his father gave him for Christmas out of a box under his bed. It’s strong stuff and it makes Roman pull a face, but it spreads a warmth through him, and he can’t help but think about how good it’s going to feel when he’s woozy and Hunter’s got him on his back with his cock buried deep inside of him later on. 

  
  


There’s a queue to get into the bar, the theme night having attracted more people than usual, and it taking security longer than normal to check everyone’s ID and smuggled alcohol. 

  
  


“So, is that hot security guard going to have to take you back home tonight, Ro?” Jason asks, and it takes Roman a moment to understand what he’s saying before he’s catching a glimpse of Dean at the door, checking ID’s with his flashlight. Roman can’t deny that Dean is hot, and if he was single he’d most definitely flirt with him, but he’s not going to get taken home by him tonight, now when he’s got an important date waiting for him.

  
  


“Not tonight, Jay, I’m gonna be present allllll night for Finn.” He says, and Finn smiles at that pressing into Roman’s side. “Maybe you could, though, he was very sweet.” 

  
  


Chad visibly frowns, and Roman laughs softly at them. It’s another ten minutes before they’re finally at the front of the queue. 

  
  


“You guys look amazing,” Colt says as he takes Jason and Chad’s ID’s, eyes focused on Seth. 

  
  


“It’s all thanks to Finn, he was the makeup artist.” 

  
  


“This your kinda thing?” Dean asks Finn, and he takes Roman’s ID from his hand, eyes flicking up and down even in the dark. 

  
  


“Yeah! I’m studying demonology and witchcraft… I’ve been obsessed since I was a kid.” If Roman could see Finn’s skin underneath the paint, he would be sure that there’s a blush on his cheeks. 

  
  


“My buddy Braun loves that shit too, you’d like him.” 

  
  


“Oh, I-“ 

  
  


“He definitely would!” Seth says for Finn, taking the reins for their friend who Roman knows is about to clam up. 

  
  


The group behind them shout at them to hurry it up, and Dean gives Roman his ID back before letting them inside. 

  
  


The bar is busier than normal, and Seth tugs them all over to get to the bar so they can get a drink. He uses his flirtatious eyes to get them served quicker than what would be expected in a bar this busy, and then drags them over to the dance floor. Jason and Chad attach themselves to each other straight away, grinding against each other as they giggle at something only they know. Finn lets himself be sandwiched by Roman and Seth, not wanting any other attention on him, but wanting to dance with someone. 

  
  


After a while of grinding against his friends and drinking supernatural themed drinks, Roman can feel the sweat starting to form on his forehead and down the back of his neck. He leans close to Seth and Finn and lets them know he’s heading outside for some fresh air and he’ll be back in a moment. He heads out of the back into the gardened area, and then out of the little gate and down the side ally next to the bar. It’s dark, but he can see the security guard Dean at the entrance to it, lighting up a cigarette. 

  
  


“You got a spare one of those?” He asks. Roman doesn’t smoke, as a general rule, but sometimes he bums one of Calvin, and right now he wants to talk to Dean and he needs to do something with his hands and his mouth. 

  
  


Dean raises an eyebrow but offers the pack to him so he can take one, and then hands him a lighter. “Nice to see you not arguing with your boyfriend.” He says as he takes a drag, blowing the smoke into the dark night air. 

  
  


Roman’s body runs hot at the mention of Hunter, remembering that Dean knows about his affair. 

  
  


“Luckily he didn’t say dumb shit to me this evening.” Roman says, being nonchalant even though he really doesn’t feel it. 

  
  


Dean shakes his head, “We all say dumb shit sometimes.” 

  
  


“He said the dumb shit on purpose.” 

  
  


“To annoy you?” 

  
  


“Probably, he knows it pisses me off when he talks about his wife, yet he still does it.” 

  
  


Dean’s about to respond, but then Roman hears the voice he is all too familiar with saying, “Ambrose?” 

  
  


Dean turns, and over his shoulder Roman sees Hunter dressed in jeans and a plain black skin tight t shirt. It’s one of the handful of times Roman has seen Hunter in anything other than his suit. But that’s not important, the important thing is that he knows Dean, and he’s here, watching him smoke. 

  
  


“Helmsley, you’re still here old man?” 

  
  


“Of course, I think the more shocking revelation is that you’re still here, Dean.” 

  
  


“Dreams were shattered, just like when you shattered my arm.” 

  
  


Roman doesn’t know what any of this means, but he can feel the tension radiating off the two men in front of him. 

  
  


“That wasn’t because of me.” 

  
  


“My arm was perfectly fine before hand.” 

  
  


Hunter ignores him then, turns his attention to Roman. “Didn’t know you smoked, Roman.” 

  
  


Roman stutters, and he stumbles to not call him Hunter. “O-only sometimes, sir.” 

  
  


“Don’t forget you have an assignment due on Monday, so don’t stay out too late.” He has the audacity to smile and wave before walking off, hands in his pockets. Roman’s not quite sure what to think, his boyfriend had rid himself of his suit and was taking himself for a walk around campus, right by the bar that he knew Roman would be in. 

  
  


Dean’s looking at him weird, like he’s trying to figure something out before it clicks. 

  
  


“Oh God, don’t tell me… you’re fucking Helmsley?” 

  
  


“Keep your voice down, you and Seth are the only ones who know.” 

  
  


Dean shakes his head as he stubs his cigarette out and puts it in the designated trash. 

  
  


“Look, Roman, I don’t know you, and I can’t tell you how to live you life, but I do know that you seem like a genuinely nice young guy, and you deserve way more than what that asshole is giving you.” Dean says and then he’s turning away, hands tucked into his pockets, “Fucking bastard.” He mutters under his breath, and Roman knows he wasn’t supposed to hear it. 

  
  


“Dean, wait, what do you mean?” 

  
  


Dean stops, and he makes sure Colt is still out of ear shot before he turns back. “You want to know more? I’m working Monday, I take my lunch about one, I’ll be in the bar, I’ll be more than happy to tell you all about your boyfriend.” He nods before he leaves, going back to his post with Colt. Roman stubs out his own cigarette, a mixture of unknown emotions as he heads back into the bar. He dances with Finn, Seth, Jason and Chad for a while longer, and he feels his phone buzz in his pocket multiple times but he doesn’t answer it. It’s only when Finn starts to get tired and a little drunk that he pulls it out, seeing a couple of messages from Hunter telling him that he was back in his office, and that he’s ready for him whenever. 

  
  


He stays until Finn slurs that he’s ready to go home, and he and Seth take him and tuck him into bed. 

  
  


“So, you’re going to his now, then?” 

  
  


Roman nods as he and Seth walk towards their dorm. Seth hugs him and kisses his cheek. “Be safe, I’ll see you in the morning.” He says softly. Roman waves as he leaves, and he walks towards Hunter’s office thinking of nothing but Dean’s words, about Hunter not being good enough, being a bastard, and smashing his arm. 

  
  


When Hunter opens the door for him, he doesn’t feel the rush of excitement he’d felt earlier. 


	5. 5. Dean

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the bit of a long wait, I’ve been in and out of my creative mind, and having finished uni im trying to cope with the anxiety of not being to go back into the comfort of it. anyway! here’s a little shorter chapter, some history on dean. next chapter will see more dean/roman interaction and more roman/hunter and possibly some seth/colt! 
> 
>  
> 
> let me know what you think! drop me a comment or you can find me on twitter @psychrollins tumblr @baloreignz

Hunter Hearst Helmsley. Dean can’t begin to explain how much he hates that man, with his stupid smirk and his powerful family. The encounter with him puts him in a bad mood for the rest of his shift, and he has to smoke another two cigarettes when he’s back in his car. All he can think about is that someone like Roman, who seems like a sweet, well put together guy is with  _ Hunter _ , who is nothing but a lying, egotistical asshole who prays on people to get what he wants. 

  
  


He’s told Roman to talk to him on Monday if he wants to know more about him, but as he drives back to his apartment he’s suddenly wondering whether that’s a good idea. His run ins with Hunter when he was a student make him think that he probably shouldn’t get involved. But can he sit by and watch someone like Roman get manipulated and lied to? It’s not the first time Hunter has slept with his student, and Dean can’t help but think about how broken up Jimmy was once he’s graduated and Hunter stopped returning his calls. When he realised that he wasn’t loved by the man, but instead a way to get his rocks off with someone hot and young. 

  
  


Jimmy, Hunter… They’re all part of a group of people that are in Dean’s past. Once the injury had permanently stopped him from wrestling, carrying on his Olympic dream, he couldn’t bare to be around the people that worked so hard to help him get there, the people that would be able to carry on and do the things that they dreamed off. Maybe it was selfish, and uncaring, but Dean hasn’t spoken to any of them since he moved from campus and into his apartment. Jimmy had called him loads of times, but eventually stopped a month or so afterwards. Regal had only tried a handful of times, he knew Dean like the back of his hand and knew that no matter what, Dean wasn’t going to pick up if he didn’t want to. 

  
  


But these people are the people that know Hunter best, know him for all his scumbag tendencies and asshole ways, and if there’s anyone who will be able to show Roman just who he’s getting into bed with, it’s Jimmy and Regal. 

  
  


When Dean gets back in his apartment he’s greeted by Mustard meowing loudly, insistent for food and rubbing her body against Dean’s legs. 

  
  


“Yeah, yeah ok, baby girl I’ll feed ya.” He picks her up into the crook of his arm and takes her into the kitchen, flicking on lights as he goes. It’s late and he’s tired, just wants to eat something and curl into bed with Mustard at his feet. He always knew that being a Security Guard would be stressful at times, and that going back to his old campus would drag up feelings he had wanted to bury, but he didn’t think it would be  _ this.  _ Where he was getting involved in a relationship between a student and their professor, a professor that he hates with a burning passion. 

  
  


Dean’s body goes through the motions as he puts Mustard’s food in her dish and fills up her water bowl, then orders himself a pizza before jumping in the shower. His mind goes at a thousand miles a minute, picturing Hunter’s smug face, the one where doesn’t have a thick beard, and he’s younger, and there’s a snap and Dean’s arm  _ hurts  _ god it hurts so much. 

  
  


At the time, Dean really did think it was an accident. He’d always had trouble with his arm, damaging his shoulder as a kid meant that any time he injured it it got worse. And it had popped out multiple times while he was wrestling, it just so happened that Hunter had offered to get into it with him because Regal couldn’t. Dean had never liked the second coach, mostly because he knew about him and Jimmy, his roommate and best friend, but also because the guy was a dick and used his powerful family to get what he wanted out of the college. But he didn’t think for a second that the man would wilfully injure him. Why would he? What would he have to gain? So when his shoulder popped out and he felt a snap and a pain shoot through his arm while they were locked together, Dean really thought it was a misplaced hand that was just much stronger than his weak ass arm. 

  
  


But then Regal had showed him the recording. Regal  _ always  _ recorded Dean’s training sessions, so that they could go over the good bits and what Dean needed to improve on. It was a good job they did, because after watching it back a million times, Dean couldn’t get the image of Hunter’s palm against his shoulder, pushing, twisting, until it dislocated and tore his tricep. 

  
  


From then on Dean held a ball of contemptment in his heart for the man who ripped his dreams away from him. 

  
  


He still thinks about it once he’s out of the shower and eaten his pizza, watching the clock tick to the real early hours of the morning, the sun starting to peek through the blinds. He should be sleeping before his shift later on, but it never comes. The bright, early morning sun splinters through, warming the bed and Mustard’s fur as he she sleeps in a direct patch of sunlight. He gets out of bed at 7am, knowing it’s pointless right now to try and sleep. May as well get up and do a few things he needs to and then have an afternoon nap later on. 

  
  


Dean goes for a run, and thinks about Jimmy Jacobs. He wonders what he’s doing, and whether he’s recovered from the heartbreak that Hunter put him through. He’d only spoke to him about the immediate fall out after graduation, after that Dean had upped and left and left them all behind. 

  
  


On the way back from his run he heads into the grocery store to pick up a few bits so he can actually make decent dinners when he’s not on the night shift, and it’s when he’s checking out he decides that when he gets back to his apartments, he’s going to call Jimmy Jacobs. 

  
  


When he does, and he hears the dial tone going over and over again, he almost hangs up, nerves making his leg shake wildly as he sits on his couch. He doesn’t though, and just before it clicks over to answering machine, Jimmy’s voice crackles into his ear. 

  
  


“ _ Jimmy Jacobs speaking may I ask who’s calling?”  _

  
  


Dean can’t help but let out a little laugh. “It’s uh, it’s Dean Ambrose.” 

  
  


There’s a momentary pause and shuffle on the end of the line. 

  
  


“ _ Mox? Are you fucking kidding me?”  _

  
  


Mox. God. Dean hasn’t heard that name in a long time. He’s kind of missed the way it sounds coming out of Jimmy’s mouth. 

  
  


“Not heard that in a while, but nah, not kidding you. It’s me.” 

  
  


_ “What the hell, Moxy? You’ve been MIA for like, three years. Where the hell are ya?”  _

  
  


“I’m still in Georgia, moved out of Atlanta after graduation and now I’m back.” 

  
  


“ _ And you couldn’t think to tell any of us where you were going? We’ve all been worried sick about you.”  _ Jimmy’s tone is angry, and Dean doesn’t really blame him. But he didn’t think anyone would  _ worry  _ about him. 

  
  


“Jimmy… I’m sorry. I just, couldn’t deal with everything that happened, I needed to get away.” 

  
  


_ “I know, Moxy. Didn’t mean it didn’t hurt when you didn’t call back. Or that we didn’t know where you were. We nearly made you a missing persons, but Regal told us that you’d come back when you wanted to. Is this you coming back to us?” _ Jimmy sounds hopeful now, and it spreads warmth through Dean that he doesn’t think he’s had for a long time, and he thinks maybe if he can stand going back to the scene of the crime, then he can see his best friends again. 

  
  
  


“Maybe. I uh, actually need to talk to you about something. You and Regal, I think. You still see him?” 

  
  


_ “Yeah, occasionally. He owns the gym Kevin goes to.” _

  
  


“Kevin Owens? You shacked up with Kevin Owens?” 

  
  


There’s a soft laugh on the other end of the line.  _ “Yeah, yeah I did. After… everything, he was there for me. Ended up dating, you know how it is.”  _

  
  


“That’s actually what I want to talk about.” 

  
  


_ “Me and Kevin?”  _

  
  


“No, well, I’d love to hear  _ that  _ story, guys about as lovable as an ice cube, but no, I uh, Helmsley still works on campus. He’s sleeping with another student, Jimmy.” 

  
  


There’s a long silence, and Dean starts to wonder whether this was a good idea or not. He doesn’t want to drag up old wounds if Jimmy hasn’t fully healed. 

  
  


_ “I don’t see what that’s got to do with me, Moxy, he made it very clear he didn’t want me. It’s a free world, he can have who he wants.”  _

  
  


“I know, I’m not calling to gossip or wind you up, Jimmy. The guys he’s with, Roman. He’s just like you, sweet, pretty, he’s getting taken advantage of, and I’m like, somehow involved in all this and I just. Don’t want to see what happened to you, happen to this guy.” 

  
  


There’s another silence. _ “What can I do? What can Regal do? If you’d have told me back then what he was like, then I would have told you to fuck off. I… loved him. If it’s the same thing, then I don’t think you’re gonna’ get through to him until he gets hurt.”  _

  
  


“I don’t want it to come to that.” 

  
  


Jimmy sighs,  _ “Look, I have to get back to work, there’s a bar called Samoa Joe’s downtown, we’re gonna be there tonight at around six, if you’re free, come down and we’ll talk about it more.”  _

  
  


Dean definitely needs to sleep soon if he’s gonna see Jimmy later on. 

  
  


“Yeah, yeah okay. I work at 9, so, no wild drunk Mox will appear tonight.” 

  
  


_ “Oh I’ve missed him.”  _

  
  


Dean laughs. “I’ll see you later, then.” 

  
  


_ “Yeah. I’ve missed you, Moxy.”  _

  
  


“Missed you too, Jimmy.” 

  
  


When Dean hangs up the phone, he feels the longing to hear more of Jimmy’s voice. He loved rooming with him, felt like they were best friends from the moment they met, talking into the early hours of the morning, both drunk and sober. Jimmy gave him the nickname Moxley, spun from Jimmy’s inability to say  _ Mötley Crüe,  _ instead saying Moxley Crew, and Dean never shut up about it, so the name was born. He used it when he wrestled, made it part of his personality. Everyone loved Mox. 

  
  


When he meets up with Jimmy, and Kevin, he hugs his small body for a long time, Jimmy sheds a tear before he pulls himself together and gets himself and Kevin a beer and a soda for Dean. They catch up on the last three years, Jimmy punching him in the arm multiple times for just dropping off the radar. Then, they talk about Hunter, and Roman. 

  
  


“He’s the opposite of you, looks wise.” 

  
  


“Really?” 

  
  


“Yeah. He’s a football player, big guy, looks like he could crush us all. Pretty, though. He’s almost got you beat.” 

  
  


“Never!” Jimmy grins with a roll of his eyes. “So what are you gonna’ do?” 

  
  


“I think, think I’m gonna tell him? Bout’ you, and all the shit…” Dean says. “It might hurt him but, it’s for the best, right?” 

  
  


Jimmy nods, “I think so. Hopefully then he can move on with his life, find someone like Kevin.” He says, squeezing his boyfriends thigh. 

  
  


A flash of him sitting with like that with Roman flashes across Dean’s mind and he quickly pushes it away with a smile. 

  
  


“Yeah, hopefully.” 


End file.
